Thomas Fidone Sets Commitment Date, Analyst Believes He’s Headed To Nebraska
Nebraska prospect Thomas Fidone announced on Twitter on Friday that he had set a final decision date. The tight end prospect will announce the school he’ll be committing to on August 26. At least one analyst, Mike Farrell of Rivals, believes the player is headed to the Cornhuskers.
Mike Sautter of the Omaha World-Herald spoke to Fidone shortly after he posted the date. The prospect said he’ll be making his final choice from four finalists. In addition to the Huskers, Michigan, LSU and Iowa are still in the running.
Hailing from Council Bluffs, Iowa, Fidone is rated with four-stars by Rivals and the other major recruiting service, 247Sports. That site’s recruiting experts also believe he’ll pick Nebraska when he finally announces his decision.
Fidone is considered the top tight end in the 2021 recruiting class and is top-ranked in the state of Iowa. He’s ranked number 37 overall in his class.
Fidone boasts a total of 36 scholarship offers and among the schools that didn’t make the cut are top-level programs like Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Florida State, and Georgia.
No change to my Thomas Fidone prediction right now. #GBR pic.twitter.com/HZMmO1bDii
— Mike Farrell (@mfarrellsports) August 14, 2020
Some around Nebraska have been nervous over the high school star’s interest in Michigan, especially, but Lincoln’s proximity has been viewed as an advantage for the Huskers by many.
Sautter pointed out the coronavirus pandemic might also have benefitted the Cornhuskers’ pursuit of the athlete. Not only have several athletic conferences canceled their fall sports seasons – including football – but the NCAA extended what’s known as the recruiting dead period.
The extension means no in-person visits from potential commits to any school. Fidone had planned an official visit to LSU for September 12, but that was derailed.
After the NCAA’s decision, the athlete decided he wanted to pull the trigger on his commitment.
“It keeps getting pushed back and it’s going to continue to get pushed back so I decided I wanted to get it over with,” he said.
He did give himself another few weeks to mull things over by setting the August 26 deadline.
Fidone told Sautter that LSU and the Cornhuskers are the two programs that talk to him with most. He added that the Tigers’ coaching staff connects with him via FaceTime nearly every day.
Despite the near-constant communications Fidone has with the Tigers’ coaches, Farrell tweeted that he’s still fairly certain that the tight end will end up with the Huskers. A photo that accompanied his tweet showed his level of confidence in his prediction, which was shown as 100 percent.
